Teenage activist Cara Darmody met the Taoiseach today as part of her campaign for better autism services for families.
Cara met Simon Harris at Government Buildings earlier where she highlighted her concerns and demand for action.
She began a protest outside Leinster House on Tuesday calling on the Government to speed up autism assessments.
She has two younger brothers - Neil and John - who both have autism and severe/profound intellectual disabilities.
13-year-old Cara Darmody told The Hard Shoulder she pulled no punches.
"It went really, really good but he basically said that I was the person who was responsible for getting the €7 million towards the HSE funding a couple of moths ago for the assessments," she said.
"I told him that the HSE were breaking the Assessment of Needs law and that it was totally wrong - and he agreed with me 100%.
"I'm very happy with that, and he's agreed to meet me in three weeks' time so I'm going to get to talk to him about this issue again".
The Disability Act says an assessment of children's needs should be completed within six months.
Taoiseach Simon Harris with 13-year-old Cara Darmody in Government Buildings, 20-6-24. Image: SuppliedCara Darmody said she made her demands clear to the Taoiseach.
"I told him what needed to be fixed and I told him that I wanted a date or a timeline," she said.
"I suppose he's going to meet me again in three weeks' time to talk about this a little bit further.
"Today I was just going in there just to tell him what's actually wrong with the country and what is happening with the HSE.
"He's told me he's going to meet me again in three weeks' time to further talk about this - so hopefully I'll make a bit of progress there".
Cara said she feels "very positive" following the meeting on Thursday.
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